I'm going to try to fit the entirety of my experiences in Indonesia into one blog post, which means this will be a long one, but hopefully not TL;DR ("too long, didn't read") long... I'm only staying here 12 nights, which is a relatively short time compared to the other countries (except for Cambodia, which was also 12 nights). The reason I'm not staying longer is because Indonesia is a country of 1700 islands or something insane like that (no exaggeration), so it's impossible to see much of it via taxi or bus day trips; you have to fly or take a boat to get to new areas, and that gets pricey. In order to spend time in the different areas and really get a feel for all the diversity Indonesia has to offer, I would end up spending a fortune. So I decided to focus my time here on a cluster of islands that are close together, but each of which have a unique vibe:
Lombok: rural, wild, known for hikes and waterfalls
Gili Trawangan: the largest and most party-town of the three Gili islands (the other two are Gili Air and Gili Meno), and the scene of my scuba diving triumph
Bali: one of Indonesia's great cultural hubs and perhaps its greatest tourist magnet, made extra popular after the publication of Elizabeth Gilbert's bestselling book Eat, Pray, Love (which is also what I imagine the daily schedule of the Dalai Lama to be).
It's a bit of a shame that I won't be making it to the larger islands of Sumatra or Java or the myriad of amazing dive sites in Indonesia that I don't have time (or money) for now. However, my main reason for coming to Indonesia was the same as my reason for wanting to go to Malaysia (to spend time in a Muslim-majority country and learn more about Islam), and I'll have a ton of time in Malaysia -- about three weeks -- to dig into that more. And who knows; this may not be my last time in Southeast Asia. I'd love to come back and visit Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, and more of Indonesia someday.
In any case, here's the beautiful, limited glimpse of Indonesia I did manage to see!
Lombok
I had such grand plans for Lombok. I wanted to hike Mt. Rinjani and see the crater lake at the top, and go to the Pusuk monkey forest, and see the amazing waterfalls. Unfortunately, my arrival to Lombok coincided with stormy weather and stormy emotions. Mt. Rinjani was closed and I didn't figure monkeys or waterfalls would be much fun in the rain, so those plans didn't pan out. When I arrived to the hostel, which kinda felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, the power was completely out. As is often the case after a long travel day and a country change, I was exhausted and emotionally fragile. Without wifi to distract me, sadness took over and I just had to cry it out and give myself permission to be inactive and unadventurous for a couple days.
View from the hostel: palm trees, cows, and ocean
By the second full day, I was ready to explore more of the island, so I rented a scooter to go for a little joy ride. It was my first time venturing on a scooter all by myself, so I was a tad nervous, but it turned out to be a really fun and straightforward vehicle to operate. Cruising around the main coastal street was amazing, and remembering to stay on the left side of the road was no biggie. I saw a ton of women in head scarves -- reminding me that I was in a Muslim country for the first time in my life -- and cows, dogs, and chickens roamed everywhere freely.
I went shopping and bought some colorful stretchy travel shorts, which I realized later might be children's pants... whatever, they were $3. They're my very unflattering travel shorts now.
Photos from the scooter joy ride:
Lombok was much more remote, less developed, and more jungle-y than I expected it to be. The only place nearby with reliable wifi was a bar/lounge at a resort half an hour's walk away, and I was there every single day. Because I am the luckiest person ever, I got to stay in that resort for two nights thanks to a generous friend who wanted to help me feel better during that emotionally challenging time. Aaaaand it worked like a charm!
Private infinity pool: daytime vs. sunset
Gili Trawangan
Gili reminds me a lot of Koh Phi Phi, but just a bit less energetic. There are NO motorized vehicles there (not even scooters), only bicycles, horse-drawn carriages for lugging cargo around, and walking. The island is too small to necessitate anything else, really.
My primary reason for venturing to Gili Trawangan was to give the Open Water Diver certification thing another go. I had been back and forth about it for a while. On one hand, I wasn't that interested in actually scuba diving and I didn't feel excited to try it again. On the other hand, the whole thing had become symbolic of how I handle fear, and I didn't want to be someone who just quits something forever if things get scary. I feel like I am brave and adventurous in a lot of other settings -- singing in the band, doing standup, taking motorcycle classes, trying ayahuasca, being open to trying new things in general -- but something about scuba diving really hit a nerve and sent me into a panic. And that's new. And I didn't like it. So the whole thing became much less about wanting to scuba dive, and more about conquering a fear, making a commitment to finishing something, and not letting any excuses get in the way.
I was talking to someone the day before my first open water dive, and how I wasn't feeling that scared at the moment, but I was afraid I'd panic when it was time for that initial descent, like I had back in Koh Tao. He said, "Good. I hope you ARE scared. I hope you're terrified, and you do it anyway. If you try again this time and you aren't scared at all, then that kinda defeats the purpose. The idea is to do something that scares you, and keep going forward anyway." After that, I was hoping I would be scared again, because he was right. It's like that saying:
Courage isn’t just a matter of not being frightened, you know.
It’s being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway.
(According to the internet, that quote is from an episode of Doctor Who)
Anyway, I signed up with Manta Dive to finish my certification, and worked with an awesome instructor named Hai, pronounced "hi"... and yes, that does create some confusion. I overheard this conversation between he and a new student:
Hai: Hi! what's your name?
Student: Hi! I'm Jennifer. What's your name?
Hai: Hai.
Student: Hi... What's your name?
Hai: Hai... my name is Hai.
Since I'd already completed the dive theory work and passed the written exam, my training this time around consisted of the following:
Day 1: 1-hour skills refresher in the pool (photo above)
Day 2: Dives 1 and 2 with skills training
Day 3: Dive 3 with skill training, and Dive 4
Day 4: Bonus fun dive
I got panicky right away during the pool session. I was nervous, and started thinking "why am I doing this" almost immediately as we went under the water, but soon I got really comfortable -- more comfortable than I'd gotten during the first, 5-hour long pool skills session in Koh Tao at least.
The big challenge, however, was that first open water dive. Once I got in the water and tried breathing through my regulator during our descent, I noticed it was getting water in it (not filling with water, but enough to get nervous about). I, got anxious, and signaled to Hai below me that I was having a problem. When we were surfaced, I told him my regulator was getting air in it. He ducked underwater and took a few breaths with it, and said, "no, it's fine."
Well, okay then. I guess it's fine... I figured if it got really bad I could always use my secondary regulator, and if THAT didn't work, I would use someone else's secondary regulator and we'd all surface ASAP. Great, I've got a plan. Everything's fine.
Then, as I began to descend again and got about one meter deep, I could feel my heart racing and my breathing verging on hyperventilation. Hai stayed with me, encouraged me to breathe slowly, and after a minute or so, I was breathing normally again and able to finish the descent. I just kept thinking to myself, "it's okay to be afraid -- it's better if you're afraid, because it gives you the opportunity push through the fear and conquer it. You WILL complete these dives and get your certification; it's just one half-hour dive at a time." Once I could see the bottom of the ocean and established my buoyancy, it was amazingly calm. One of my fellow divers-in-training in Koh Tao had told me after she completed the first dive that it actually feels weirdly natural to be down there breathing under water, to which I laughed and thought "THE HELL IT DOES!" But she was right after all.
The next three dives I had no issues, and I could finally start to just enjoy swimming around with fish and looking at all the fascinating underwater creatures. We saw clown fish ("Nemo"), lion fish, scuttle fish, eels, and brightly colored fish I don't know names for.
A blue-spotted manta ray, baby shark, and giant green turtles were definitely the highlights, though (so lucky that my diving buddy had a GoPro!):
Blue spotted manta ray hiding under a rock
Baby shark
Giant green turtles
So there you have it -- I finished my SSI Open Water Diver certification
and I've got this super official ID card to prove it!
Bali
I only spent three nights in Bali, so I tried not to waste much time. After arriving from Gili via fast boat, I walked to the Ubud Monkey Forest, and could not stop smiling at all the monkeys everywhere. I just think they're so cute and entertaining and there were SO MANY! And the forest itself is just a gorgeous place to take a stroll.
Later that night, I went to a Balinese dance show, which was bizarre and awesome. The music was provided entirely by the voices of about 40-50 different men, seated in a circle around the stage in rows of three. There's no way I can describe the sounds they were making, but if you're interested, I can message you the audio from it. So cool. So weird. That's all I can really say about that.
My second day in Bali, I just tried to not spend much money because I'd gone over my $20 daily budget (...by $20...) the day before. The THIRD day, though, I rented a scooter and did a DIY tour of Bali that included Goa Gajah (the Elephant Cave), the Tegunungan waterfall, and the Gunung Kawi shrines. I actually didn't mean to go to the Gunung Kawi shrines; I was trying to find the Tirta Empul water temple... but because there's kind of a water temple-y part of Gunung Kawi, I thought I'd found it. I only realized my mistake after looking up info on Tirta Empul just now and realizing that is NOT where I went. Well, crap. Too late to go find it now.
It's okay though! Everything was still very lovely, as you will see below.
Elephant Cave -- not sure where it got its name. That sure seems more like a crazy creepy clown than an elephant to me...
Ah, okay. There's an elephant. (Ganesha, to be more precise)
Tegunungan Waterfall!
Gunung Kawi (rock-cut shrines)
Tonight I shall listen to live jazz at the Laughing Buddha bar, and then I gotta get back to my room for a quick nap before getting up at 3:30am to catch my flight at 7:30 (evidently the airport is about 90 minutes away).
Farewell, Indonesia! Malaysia, here I come...